Leo Tolstoy's final days prove unexpectedly fertile ground for writer/director Michael Hoffman who has made a spirited and entertaining film which suffers from being a little heavy handed in places and is not quite the sum of its parts.
In 1910, the 82-year-old writer was arguably the most famous man in Russia, and regarded as the world's greatest living writer. So much so that a thriving foundation - a benevolent group of youths and young adults - existed to spread his message. With death looming, however, the subject of his will becomes a matter of great importance to his family, led by his ebullient wife (Helen Mirren) and his professional counsel, in particular his potentially self-serving advocate (Paul Giamatti).
Despite claiming that private property should be abolished, Tolstoy lives in some style and that is exactly the way his wife wants to keep it after his death. Giamatti's character, on the other hand, has other ideas: Tolstoy's estate, and all of his works, should be bequeathed to the Russian nation. To shed light on both sides of the story, Hoffman introduces James McAvoy as a young assistant who is given the arduous task of spying by both sides of the argument.
It's a refreshing, adult, change from the norm, and Hoffman keeps it all buzzing along at some pace. But I would have liked to know more about Tolstoy's message and his evident appeal to the Russian nation: it comes as somewhat confused, and contradictory. Some of the themes are overplayed: McAvoy's incessant sneezing when he is nervous and the parallels between celebrity culture then and now.
The performances are also uneven: Mirren and McAvoy are strident and stagey, whereas Giamatti and Kerry Condon bring a welcome natural touch to their roles. But the star of the show is undoubtedly the great Christopher Plummer, who thoroughly deserves his Oscar nomination for yet another late-career turn.
Paul Hurley
